Following a revealing memoir, comedian Chris Kattan dishes on his ‘SNL’ days on stage

Comedian Chris Kattan is best known for creating some of “Saturday Night Live’s” most memorable characters — apple-shredding monkey boy Mr. Peepers, temperamental stripper Mango, and one half the Butabi Brothers, who spun off into “A Night at the Roxbury.”

It was a golden era for “SNL” with Will Ferrell, Molly Shannon and Tracy Morgan — and, eventually, Jimmy Fallon, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler — among his castmates. Kattan stood out with over-the-top characters, wildly physical comedy, malleable facial features, and an enduring sweetness, whether he was overenthusiastic gymnast Kerri Strug or channeling the dark side as Azrael Abyss on “Goth Talk.”

Yet in his 2019 memoir “Baby Don’t Hurt Me,” Kattan revealed that his willingness to “go there” physically led to a neck injury he sustained while flipping over in his chair during a parody of “The Golden Girls.” Multiple surgeries, recovery and an addiction to painkillers often kept Kattan out of the limelight after “SNL.”

He didn’t disappear — he guest-starred on sitcoms, made a few movies, lent his voice to animated characters, and appeared on four seasons of “The Middle” — but he couldn’t take full advantage of his post “SNL” fame.

His sense of humor helped through those dark years.

“It’s a savior. I don’t know what I’d do without it,” he says.

His injury didn’t sully his memories of “SNL” either. In fact, he talks extensively about his experience on the show in his book, and will also do so on stage during his stand-up appearances at The Comedy Zone on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.

“It’s part of life. It’s what happens,” he says of the injury.

Kattan was destined for comedy early on. His father, Kip King, was an original member of The Groundlings who appeared in countless TV shows and films. “I used to sit and watch him in The Groundlings when I was 7 years old. I was in awe of my father. I was captivated,” he says.

“You had to be taught it a little bit,” he adds of his own time in The Groundlings. “To not overthink things, to say whatever happens to fall out of your mouth.”

After decades of doing sketch and improv comedy, Kattan took up stand-up six years ago, after his last surgery.

“I’m not doing big characters, but I like it,” he says. And there are other new paths he’s exploring, too. He went from voicing a vampire bunny on Boomerang’s “Bunnicula” (which ended a three-year run in 2018) to playing a test subject in the new film “The Soviet Sleep Experiment.”

“It’s an independent film. My brother (musician Andrew Joslyn) did the score,” he says of the film, which was inspired by the urban legend/online story about four prisoners who were kept awake in a small chamber for weeks. “It’s more of a thriller. It’s a different genre. But I love being a performer in any genre, really.”

Chris Kattan

When: 8 p.m. Thursday, 7:30 and 9:45 p.m. Friday, and 7 and 9:15 p.m. Saturday.

Where: The Comedy Zone, 900 NC Music Factory Blvd.

Tickets: $22-$27.

Details: 980-321-4702; www.cltcomedyzone.com.